How to do a stocktake in Shopify

A stocktake is a physical count of what is on your shelves, compared with the on-hand quantity Shopify has on record, and then corrected. Since Stocky stopped working on 31 August 2026 there are four ways to do it. Here they are, with the steps and the catches, so you can pick the one that fits your shop.

1. Shopify's own Stock counts (admin)

Shopify now has a built-in Stock counts page under Products > Inventory > Stock counts. Steps:

1. On a desktop browser, open Products > Inventory > Stock counts > Create count.
2. Select the location. Add products by search, by scanning barcodes, or by importing a CSV of SKUs/barcodes.
3. Save (the count starts as Draft), then Start count. Type quantities or scan: each scan adds one.
4. Several staff can count at once; entries are saved as you go, so you can pause and continue.
5. Request review. A manager compares Expected and Counted, rejects lines to recount, then Approves.

Catches, from Shopify's help pages:

• Counts are created only in the admin on a desktop browser, not in the Shopify mobile app.
• Counting in the POS app needs a POS Pro subscription at that location (POS v11.16 or later).
• One location per count, no bundles, and duplicate barcodes give an error when scanned.
• You cannot export a stock count, and approving (or completing without review) cannot be undone.

2. Quick count in Shopify POS

Quick count (released 23 October 2025) is a POS extension that updates on-hand stock straight from the POS app with the camera, a scanner or product search, up to 1,000 products per session. It is fast for a shelf or two, but changes go live as you enter them: there is no review step before your stock changes. Check that your POS plan includes it.

3. The inventory CSV (no app, any plan)

1. Products > Inventory > Export, choose the location and All states.
2. Count, and write each counted quantity in the On hand (new) column.
3. Import the file. The On hand (current) column protects against overwriting changes made since the export.

It costs nothing, but counting from a printed list is slow, and every sale made between export and import has to be dealt with by hand. It suits a count done while the shop is closed.

4. A stocktake app

Apps fill the gaps the options above leave. This is what we are building into Countwell, so you know what to look for in any app:

• Count on a phone without POS Pro: Countwell runs inside the Shopify admin and the Shopify mobile app, with the phone camera, a USB/Bluetooth scanner or typed SKUs.
• Sales during the count are kept: it remembers stock at the moment each item was first scanned, so orders placed while you count are not overwritten.
• Cycle or full count: a cycle count changes only what you counted; a full count sets uncounted items in scope to 0, and shows you every change before anything is applied.
• Variance at cost and CSV export of every count, filtered by vendor if you like.

Tips for any method

• Fix duplicate and missing barcodes before the count; it saves more time than anything else.
• Count one area at a time and mark it done, so nothing is counted twice.
• Recount the biggest differences before you apply them; most are miscounts, not theft.
• Between full stocktakes, run small cycle counts of your fastest movers.

Sources

• Shopify Help: Stock counts and its pages on creating and performing counts
• Shopify Changelog: Run stock counts in POS (28 Sep 2026)
• Shopify Changelog: Quick count extension in Shopify POS (23 Oct 2025)
• Shopify Help: Exporting and importing inventory with a CSV file

Checked against Shopify's help pages on 1 November 2026.